[5] His 2012 memoir, Leaving Story Avenue: My Journey From the Projects to the Front Page, covers his life from his rough upbringing to his career as a reporter and producer.
[11] In 1983, as a Daily News reporter, LaRosa was named co-winner of the Meyer Berger Award, along with Anna Quindlen of the New York Times.
[12] The prize is awarded annually by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism for outstanding local writing about New York City.
[20] In 2018, LaRosa won a New York Press Club Award in the Special Event[21] category for a piece he wrote and produced titled "A Nation Divided."
It featured interviews with middle school students who were largely from immigrant families and worried about the presidential inauguration of Donald J. Trump.